Bic Apologizes for Women’s Day Ad That Mostly Just Made Women Furious

Bic continues to have trouble talking to women.

The pen maker, which was the object of ridicule a few years ago for its absurd "Bic for Her" pens, failed spectacularly in South Africa this week, posting a tone-deaf ad on social media for national women's day that drew swift criticism—and soon led to an apology.

The "Look Like a Girl" and "Think Like a Man" lines were both pretty infuriating, and the Internet reacted mercilessly to the brand's misstep. Bic made things worse by trying to defend itself in one half-apology before deleting that (further angering people who'd commented on it) and posting a second apology.

That one read: "Hi everyone. Let's start out by saying we're incredibly sorry for offending everybody—that was never our intention, but we completely understand where we've gone wrong. This post should never have gone out. The feedback you have given us will help us ensure that something like this will never happen again, and we appreciate that."

what fresh hell is this pic.twitter.com/KctXjvWAHp

— Caroline CriadoPerez (@CCriadoPerez) August 11, 2015